There are five major African initiation rites which are fundamental to human growth and development. These rites were originally established by African ancestors while they were living in order to link the individual to the community and the community to the broader and more potent spiritual world. Initiation rites are a natural and necessary part of a community, as are arms and legs natural and necessary extension of the human body. These rites are critical to individual and community development, and it should not to be taken for granted that people automatically grow and develop into responsible, community-oriented adults. The process of initiation concerns undergoing a fundamental set of rites to start a new phase or beginning in life. It marks the passing from one phase in life to the next more mature phase. Initiation fundamentally has to do with transformation, and has been a central component of traditional African cultures since time immemorial. The details of the rites vary among the different societies, but these rites are nevertheless basic components of the society as they help guide the person from one stage in life into the next stage of one’s life and development, that is, from birth to death and beyond. The five rites are birth, adulthood, marriage, eldership, and ancestorship. A rite is a fundamental act (or set of rituals) performed according to prescribed social rules and customs. Each of these rites are a key component that are a part of traditional African cultures. Some societies have more elaborate and extensive ceremonies than others, but these five themes are the thread that links families and villages in traditional Africa and provide the necessary structure for individual growth and development. The 5 rites briefly described below represent an integrated initiation system that has given indigenous African cultures the stability and longevity to provide a model of consistency and inter-generational unity. They represent a complete set of devices that prevent the inherent conflicts between various age groups or the systematic ill treatment of women, children, or elders. These problems are commonplace in western cultures, but they are virtually unknown in indigenous African cultures. These African cultures were not “perfect” as all human societies have problems, but they do provide a viable example in the modern world of how to solve social conflicts and contradictions and give individual the societal support to discover and fulfill their life mission and unique contribution. RITE OF BIRTH (/CHILDBIRTH) The Rite of Birth is the first of the major African initiation rites and it involves initiating the infant into the world through a ritual and naming ceremony. Nearly all African cultures hold that the infant has come from the spirit world with important information from that world, and is bringing unique talents and gifts to offer to the community. The infant, in fact, is believed to have been commissioned to come to the world and accomplish a particular mission or project, and often has a great message to deliver. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the family and community to discover the infant’s unique mission through consultations with a diviner and to have rituals and a birth chart done. This is done to clearly determine the new community member’s mission in order to guide him/her through their life path. The infant’s name is given after the determination of the mission and it is a reflection of the infant’s personality or the life mission itself. RITE OF ADULTHOOD The Rite of Adulthood is the second major initiation rite and it is nowadays the most popular among the set of rites. Most people today assume that “rites of passage” only refers to initiation into adulthood, and they are often not aware that adulthood rites are only one set of rites within a larger system of rites. Adulthood rites are usually done at the onset puberty age (around 12-13 years of age in many cultures) and they are to ensure the shaping of productive, community-oriented responsible adults. There is nothing automatic about youth being productive members of society, nor is there anything particularly difficult about transitioning from a child to an adult. This transition to adulthood is exceedingly difficult in Western societies because there are no systems of adulthood rites to systematically guide and direct the young person through this important stage in his or her life cycle. In Western culture adulthood is seen as a status achieved at the age of 18 or 21, or simply when the person graduates from high school. Unfortunately, in most cases there is no fundamental guidance or transformation from a child to an adult that is required or expected. This “leave it for chance” approach to adulthood development is the root of most teenage and youth “adult” confusion, chaos, and uncertainty. When the youth reach a certain age, somehow they are expected to magically transformed into an “adult,” eventhough they often receive very little guidance. On the other hand, African societies systematically initiate boys and girls. They often take the young initiates out of the community, and away from the concerns of everyday life, to teach them all the ways of adulthood: including the rules and taboos of the society; moral instruction and social responsibility; and further clarification of his/her mission or calling in life. RITE OF MARRIAGE The Rite of Marriage is the third major initiation rite and it represents not only the joining of two families, but also the joining of the two missions of the new couple. In other words, the marriage rites are performed for not only the coming together of male and females to procreate and perpetuate life and the coming together of families, it is also an institution that helps both the husband and wife to best fulfill their mission and objectives in life. Unfortunately, in Western society a vast number of marriages fail as they are often based upon the couple “falling in love” and thereby entering the relationship in an unbalanced state. Individual often “fall in love” quick and “fall out of love” just as quickly, as soon as they recover from the emotional “love at first site” syndrome. African society, on the other hand, does not emphasize individual looks and lust as the primary motivation for marriage, but rather the basic focus is on building families and communities. The focus is on the collective more than the individual. A person is not generally considered an adult until they have married and had children. RITE OF ELDERSHIP The Rite of Eldership is the fourth major initiation rite and it is an important component of the initiation system, because it is the elders who represent tradition and the wisdom of the past. In African culture, there is a fundamental distinction that has to be made between an “elder” and “older” person. An older person has simply lived a longer life than most of people, but it not considered one who deserves high praise and respect. This is because the older person’s life has not been a positive example for the community. An older person could be a thief or drunkard, an evil person, or could be someone who never married and had children, and thus these examples would certainly prevent a person from being considered a respected elder. An elder, on the other hand, is someone who is given the highest status in African culture because s(he) has lived a life of purpose, and there is nothing more respected than living a purposeful life. The life of an elder is centered in the best tradition of the community, and is someone who has gone through all of the previous three rites, and is a living model for the other groups in the society to emulate. An elder is given the highest status and along with new infants because these two groups represent the closest links to the wisdom of the spirit world. RITE OF ANCESTORSHIP The last of the five major rites is the Rite of Ancestorship, which concerns passing over into the spirit world. This final initiation rite is an extension of the elder/older distinction because the status that a person has in life is the same status that they bring with them when they pass on. There is virtually no African society that believes that when a person dies this ends all ties and communication with the living. Rather, African philosophy from one culture to another agrees that the spirit of the deceased is still with the living community, and that a distinction must be made in the status of the various spirits, as there are distinctions made in the status of the living. One of the most important distinctions is the difference between an older person who dies and who is seen as nothing more than a “dead relative,” and a respected elder who passes on and is revered as an honored “ancestor.” The dead relative dies without honor and is someone who is not remembered as a great person or someone who should be followed or emulated. On the other hand, a respected elder who passes on becomes a respected ancestor and is given the highest honor. This group of ancestor wield great power and are often called upon in matters of trouble or uncertainty to help influence a favorable outcome. Thus, ancestors are respected elders who have passed away and who continue to serve as an extension of the family and community.

Korè is divided into eight classes: the sulaw, teaches of man’s body and its connection with the animal world; the bisatigiw is concerned with spiritual quietude and the mastery of the tongue and self; surukuw, teaches the virtues of a balanced and centered existence; tatuguw, allows a man to rid himself of conditioned responses and makes him a leader among men; dugaw, transforms man into the “wife of the Creator”: kurumaw, is a particularly austere class that symbolizes the sacrifice of the self, which is analogous to the deflowering of a wife; dyaraw, symbolizes the regal power of the divine wife (they call him the lion- man); and lastly, the hands and face symbolize karaw, or the ability to do-say or act-speech. In this class the man reaches spiritual maturity.

Upon entering Korè, before an initiate can be reborn, he must be sacrificed, much like an animal would be (by cutting his throat with a knife). The mock death that follows symbolizes an entombment, a return to the womb-fetal life and a return to a state analogous to animality. This all takes place in the sacred grove (the bush, uncultured space), where because of its solitude, the initiate experiences a sense of the temporary separation from physical life experienced at death. As he enters the space, he is beaten with thorn branches and burning torches. Symbolically, this bodily assault represents the struggle required to attain knowledge. Just as in the nkang’a rite of Ndembu girls, the elders treat the initiate as a passive entity, his body and sense of self are subject to the will of others. During this phase of initiation the novice is fed, bathed, must sleep on leaves and drink water as an animal would. He must lie at the foot of the world tree, the source of regeneration, which symbolically connects heaven to earth. The tree becomes the initiates new center. Elders cover the initiate with an immense animal hide sprinkled with an herb that makes him lethargic. This hide represents the placenta and is also used in Bamana burial. These skins serve as symbols of the sky or heaven, the abode of the Creator (but also of the womb).

Korè initiation, during the liminal phase, moves into a hut. Five ordeals mark this phase. The last phase, the rebirth stage, is structured like a Bamana outdooring (a birth rite) and occurs in the village. Though the two cultures are more than a thousand miles apart and one rite (n’kanga) for women and the other (korè) for men, note the striking similarities between the Bamana and the Ndembu initiations.

Although Bamana society is socially stratified, initiation into Korè is a requirement for all. Still, all will not attain the same level of advance- ment. Korè teaches the adept’s “marriage to God” (in the final stages of initiation) parallels human marriage; the relationship between the sun and the earth; and the relationship between the hoe and the earth. By linking spiritual aspirations to the cosmos (i.e., the sun and moon) and to cultural practices (such as farming), Korè serves to integrate the adept into daily existence. It produces men devoted to their culture and inspired to live fuller, more meaningful lives. Yet, while living in the everyday world of existence, the adept’s consciousness stays centered in the cosmic order. Thus, he refrains from the various emotional trivialities of daily life. The Bamana explain it as follows:

Silence defines the man of character, and is the attribute of the wise man; it is a type of wisdom. He who knows how to be silent, possesses true happiness, interior peace, and detachment.

Bamana elders are spiritually enlightened persons endowed with knowledge. They are the self-mastered people spoken of in Bamana proverbs. Once a person possesses the Word, his or her personal character changes. He becomes a person of silence, reserve, decisive and an exemplar of cool repose. In contrast is the person that is impulsive, confused, noisy and lacks self-mastery. High initiates speak seldom, and when they do, it is with authority. They embody the Word and are masters of speech. High initiates are also masters of their emotions and their bodies. Adepts usually observe a certain decorum, restraint, and order.

Everyday Afrikan societies disclose more of their spiritual systems and inner life to the outside world. In earlier times, various societies refused to participate or cooperate in the various anthropological inquiries by those we would subsequently discover had a completely antithetical frame of reference (worldview) and therefore, no basis for understanding or accurately interpreting what they saw. Many elders considered such inquiries intrusions and with good reason. However, from the currently emerging studies, the continent-wide emphasis on the Word or knowledge and its transformative qualities, is becoming apparent. The Mande are not an isolated instance of the spiritual complexity of Afrika. Given the microcosmic nature of Afrikan societies, we can assume the people with complex societies have correspondingly complex cosmologies. What we see, is that different people employ various methods, but with the same objective—the growth of the person as he or she acquires knowledge. The purpose of this knowledge is to teach the person to identify with the divine, while functioning in the physical realm. In this way, Afrikan spirituality establishes within a person, the connection to family, community, and the Supreme Being. DyowBamana initiation, called dyow, is a unified body of knowledge divided into six stages: the N’domo, Komo, Nama, Kono, Tyi wara, and Korè. The progressive movement of man through dyow encompasses his passage from self-knowledge (where all knowledge is said to begin), to comprehension of the Creator. Dyow reshapes the personal self-identity developed during childhood, recentering and reorienting it into the larger cosmic structure. French anthropologist Dominique Zahan studied the Bamana and summarized dyow as such: The knowledge of self (n’domo) engenders the investigation of the subject of knowledge itself (komo) and leads man to confront what is social (nama). From this is born judgment and moral consciousness (kono), owing to which knowledge approaches the cosmos (tyi wara) in order to terminate in the divinity (korè).Self-mastery is a highly valued concept among the Bamana and many of their proverbs address its importance. Their concept of self- mastery places emphasis on knowledge (as with the Dogon), however, bodily coercion is the primary means by which knowledge and the rebirth of the person is achieved similar to the n'kanga. Bamana thought views dyow as a microcosm of life, which they have found can be understood through the body. Like the human body, initiation is a unified system. Apparently, Afrikans have discovered the relationship between the self (total person), the physical body, and the ability to assimilate knowledge; they have found that knowledge best takes root when accompanied by a reorientation of the self via the physical body. The various levels of dyow teach the symbolism of different body parts and their inner significance. N’domo, the first level, is entered upon as the Bamana puberty rite. Elders teach uncircumcised youth the foundations of their culture, explicating at this stage, the spiritual significance of the feet, ankles and lower limbs. When instruction at this level is completed, circumcision is performed. According to both the Bamana and the Dogon, before the development of culture, humanity was “androgynous” and continues to possess latent androgyny or twinness. For a male child, the penile foreskin contains his original femininity, and for a female child, the prepuce of the clitoris contains her original masculinity. They believe that a person cannot function properly under the double influence of masculinity and femininity and a consequence of remaining uncircumcised is that the urge to procreate will be stifled. By removing the skin from these corresponding areas, circumcision ends the androgynous condition, thereby making one more fully male or female. Ultimately, the purpose of circumcision is to facilitate concentration on the complementary sex, knowledge, the soul, immortality, agriculture and the Creator, things that synthesize the inner and outer life. The second level of dyow called Komo, where speech and the sense of touch are important, teaches the initiate about knowledge and its relationship to the human being. On the Nama level, the actual complementary relationship between seeming opposites such as the spirit and the body, man and woman and good and evil, are explained to the initiate, along with the inner significance of the genitalia and the sense of smell. Kono, the fourth level, deals with the nature of humanness. As the inexorable twinness or interdependence of the spirit and the body are elucidated, initiates are taught how the senses of hearing and smell are connected to human intellectual discrimination. Tyi wara, the fifth level of initiation, pertains to the physical or material world. During this phase, the sun, earth, animals, and plants are explained in (inter)relationship to people. In the Afrikan worldview, each human being is considered intrinsically divine, whether the person is aware of it or not. The purpose of initiation is to establish conscious awareness of it. Korè, its final stage karaw, concerned itself with just that — the (re)spiritualization and (re)divinization of the human being. This is necessary to make the initiate “immortal” in the spiritual sense and as such, “equal” to the Creator. What makes it possible for a person to “resist” the Creator’s reabsorption? Korè accomplishes this through the sublimation of pain and overcoming the fear of death. Rigorous and painful physical exercises mark each stage and class of Korè. The initiate that flinches or cries out, shows his constitution is more external and self-centered than oriented toward inner life. The initiate must learn to transform noise into silence, suffering into serenity. For the Bamana, physical death signifies the final initiatory stage, for then the person has entered silence. Entry into silence, yo, is evident in the reaction of the dead to pain — they have no reaction, because they have transcended it. Thus, the “dead” body symbolizes that the elder’s development and transformation are complete.

The other day I read Edwin A. Locke's piece entitled, "The Greatness of Western Civilization." He begins his article with the following:

In this age of diversity-worship, it is considered virtually axiomatic that all cultures are equal. Western culture, claim the intellectuals, is in no way superior to that of African tribalists or Eskimo seal hunters. There are no objective standards, they say, that can be used to evaluate the moral stature of different groups. They assert that to deny the equality of all cultures is to be guilty of the most heinous of intellectual sins: "ethnocentrism." This is to flout the sacred principle of cultural relativism. I disagree with the relativists--absolutely.

Locke continues, that there are ". . . three fundamental respects in which Western culture is objectively the best. These are the core values or core achievements of Western civilization, and what made America great." Those are Reason, Individual Rights, and Science and Technology. I will reprint his basic points, and then in the proceeding paragraph I'll evaluate his claim(s).

His First Claim:ReasonThe Greeks were the first to identify philosophically that knowledge is gained through reason and logic as opposed to mysticism (faith, revelation, dogma). It would take two millennia, including a Dark Ages and a Renaissance, before the full implications of Greek thought would be realized. The rule of reason reached its zenith in the West in the 18th century--the Age of Enlightenment. "For the first time in modern history," writes one philosopher, "an authentic respect for reason became the mark of an entire culture. " America is a product of the Enlightenment.

My Evaluation: This claim is misleading for two reasons. First it implies that cultures before the Greeks did not employ reason. By reason I take him to mean the power of comprehending, inferring, or thinking especially in orderly rational ways. If this were true, then how can you explain the architectural accomplishments of Kemet and ancient China, if they did not use reason, and have knowledge of laws of physics? Second, though ancient cultures had elements of their societies that included what has been called mysticism, that does not mean they failed to use reason; the two are not mutually exclusive. The system that employed so-called mysticism were actually techniques that addressed psychological components of the human being. They were systems designed to develop the character of the person; designed to develop disciplined and responsible persons imbued with leadership qualities. In other words, the frailties or "human weaknesses" that continue to make Western leaders and the general populace dishonest, unprincipled, greedy, selfish, and a host of other inimitable qualities and behaviors, mysticism was meant to eliminated or at least significantly improved upon. I have argued in Distorted Truths that it was the Greek's movement away from Afrikan cosmology, and their development of philosophy that was the root of the problem. It was a movement away from using nature and natural law as foundational a guides for ascertaining knowledge. That they move away from knowledge that was extracted from the synergy of environmental laws and human wisdom, to knowledge centered around human intellection, often removed from its environmental context. Before the Greeks, other cultures understood that though knowledge was expansive, its application had to always work within the constraints of nature, i.e. "God." (The Latin word Nature is derived from the Kemetic Netcher, which meant deity, force or power of nature.) So already, Afrikans did not set themselves up for failure by creating a dichotomy that would created a science vs religion paradigm, because to study nature was to study 'God." Human knowledge consequently is predicated and derived from God, so why would the foolish idea of conquering nature ever develop?His second point: Individual RightsAn indispensable achievement leading to the Enlightenment was the recognition of the concept of individual rights. John Locke demonstrated that individuals do not exist to serve governments, but rather that governments exist to protect individuals. The individual, said Locke, has an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of his own happiness. The result was the United States of America. (Disastrous errors were made in the West -- for example, slavery, which originated elsewhere, and Nazism--but these were too incongruent with Western values to last and were corrected, by the West, in the name of its core principles of reason and rights.)

My Evaluation: Before addressing the main idea, I must correct his disclaimers. Slavery did not originate elsewhere. Slavery or forced labor has existed in practically every human society, hence the West did not have to borrow it from elsewhere. In fact, the Greeks he just finishing praising, all of their city-staes or poli were based on slavery, even Athens. Nazism, a form of totalitarianism, was a Greek invention--it was practiced in Sparta. No there is no disclaimer on that. The problem with individual right is that it is class-exercised. It is only actualized once an individual has acquired material wealth. In the U.S. persons of wealth and status exercise individual rights, while the poor and impoverished are subjected to the individual rights of others. Hence, individual right have a monetary value; the more money you have the more rights you can exercise. Equality of individual rights exist in law but not in actuality. In the end, the idea of individual rights has been used as an excuse for those that have means to impose their will on others. Look at the history of the West, it is telling.

Mary Lefkowitz lamenting about the idea of a stolen legacy states: "there was in existence a whole literature that denied that the ancient Greeks were the inventors of democracy, philosophy, and science. There were books in circulation that claimed that Socrates and Cleopatra were of African descent, and that Greek philosophy had actually been stolen from Egypt.” And of course, to her, all of this is utter nonsense. She assumes this body of literature is an absolute distortion of the facts. Some of it is, some of it isn't. Let's examine it. The Greeks never had democracy though their city-state of Athens contained some of the ideals and procedures modern democracies idealize. The facts are: a minority of people, called citizens, which constituted roughly 10% of the entire population could participate in the government; a majority of the people, non-citizens, were owned by the citizens, so clearly they had no rights; women, who composed a sizable portion of the population had no rights, as they were virtual slaves; persons born elsewhere, but that lived in Athens were not citizens either (foreigners). An equal number, if not most of the features of modern democracies emanate from the Roman Republic, which was never even remotely democratic nor did it claim to be.

The foundation of philosophy does come from Kemet, and I am not sure why this is still debated. This can be documented in the works of George G. M. James (Stolen Legacy), Cheikh Anta Diop (Civilization or Barbarism), Theophile Obenga (Ancient Egypt and Black Africa), R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz (Sacred Science), Martin Bernal (Black Athena), Ra Un Nefer Amen (Not Out of Greece) and my Distorted Truths. The last two works demonstrate how and why the Greeks altered or “challenged” Afrikan thought, but nevertheless Afrikan thought was its foundation. As to science, all people have developed science. To give sciences' development to one group of people is one of the most ridiculous assertions an intelligent person can make. The ancient river valley civilizations of Kemet, Mohenjo-Daro, Sumer, and the Yellow River, were all based on a sound basis in science. Oh, and incidentally, all these societies were established by Afrikan people! Archaeology doesn't lie, just archeologists.

If the Kemeyu didn't have science, then how do we explain the following: the ability to preserve the bodies of the decease for thousands of year; erect monumental structures that are still standing which are aligned to stars, the sun, and the earth's axis; produce paints and dyes that are still vibrant after thousands of years. And there are countless examples of their scientific and technological prowess. But for more see Civilization or Barbarism, chapters 16 and 17.

Concerning the racial identity of Socrates and Cleopatra, they are Caucasoid—predominantly. In Socrates' case I says this because there are some bust that show him with a more Africoid phenotype than others, but we can see he is predominantly “white.” Cleopatra was of Ptolemaic descent, that incestuous Greek line that saw brothers marrying sisters, and nieces. Because Cleopatra VII was the only Ptolemaic ruler that spoke Ren-en-Kemet, some Afrikan scholars use this as evidence of an Afrikan heritage. It has also been suggested, but not fully substantiated that her grandmother was a commoner (often a code word for being indigenous). However, all that aside, she was “white.”

The attack on Afrocentricity is intellectually dishonest, fraudulent, and most of all racist. It is part of an on-going attempt by Westerner academia to monopolize information, and even knowledge. What Westerners are in fact doing is attempting to make their myths into history, and especially our history, into myth.